Tag Archive | Heavy Sexual Content

An Unlocked Heart (Collars & Cuffs #1) by K.C. Wells (5 Stars)

May26

A captivating story of finding your soulmate for both life and love.

Alex Daniels is a painfully shy young man living at home after graduating from college without any job prospects in his field. While working as a waiter to save enough money to get a place of his own, he meets Leo Hart. Leo is part owner of Collars & Cuffs, a BDSM club. He’s also still mourning the death of his lover. Leo and Alex begin to build a relationship together while dealing with life’s little issues.

This was simple relationship-based story with the focus on really getting to know the characters and watching them fall in love. Outside of a little bit of angst here and there, they spent most of their time happily exploring their adoration of each other while also working through the Dom/sub attributes of their affair. I’m not sure I’ve ever read so many amazing kissing scenes. On top of going out on sweet dates, these guys were huge cuddlers.

At the same time, there was a real story taking place that kept it from passing into the overly sweet category. Alex had some family issues to deal with, including a mother who was extremely detached and a weasel for a brother. Although Leo doesn’t dwell on the lover he lost to the point of depressing the reader, it was obviously still affecting his life.

I really enjoyed the other players in this story, including Thomas Williams, Leo’s partner, and Pietro, Alex’s co-worker and friend. I also loved when Alex started keeping a diary. Since Alex was so shy and he didn’t talk a lot, this served as an excellent chance to get into his head even more.

There were little things I would have liked addressed. Alex’s Facebook friend just seemed to disappear, and I never really understood why he was so afraid to come out to his family when he clearly wanted nothing to do with them. The excessive use of the word “boy” became a bit much. But these were minor issues which I easily overlooked due to the incredible storytelling capabilities of this author. Note that they do spend time in the club, engage in some bondage and whipping scenes, and they have sex in front of a crowd.

I was obsessed with reading this slow-burning, deeply romantic love story with realistic angst, scorching sex scenes, and a good introduction to the BDSM world.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

A Shot at Forgiveness by Cardeno C. (5 Stars)

May22

What happens when your high school tormentor wasn’t really the bully you thought he was and instead had a major crush on you?

Isaac Jones is a major basketball player who supposedly tormented Rafi in high school. Rafi Steiner is an attorney who is doing well and doesn’t need Isaac back in his life. But Isaac thinks Rafi is the person he’s meant to spend the rest of his life with, and he’s willing to fight for that chance.

The story was told from Rafi’s point of view, and he was a great character with a sarcastic sense of humor. Rafi is intelligent, hard-working, and a bit lonely. Although he has some good friends, he hasn’t fallen in love yet. Isaac might be a major star, but he wasn’t arrogant. Instead, he was kind, loving, and a bit possessive. At first glance, it didn’t make any sense that Isaac liked Rafi based on how he treated Rafi in high school. However, as Rafi starts to remember some of the nice things Isaac did for him, the story took on a different feel. It was almost like a reminder to the rest of us not to let negative feelings cloud our pasts and block the good memories.

There were several extremely steamy sex scenes during which these two continued to grow their relationship. The conversations were wonderful, and I really felt like I got to know the characters. The story takes place over a reasonable period of time, and we get a glimpse into what their future would be like together.

I really enjoyed this wonderful steamy relationship story with a great sense of humor and interesting characters!

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

Falling by D.W. Marchwell (3 Stars)

May20

Light romance with some very sweet emotional moments.

There were several parts of the book I really enjoyed, and several that just didn’t work for me. I thought the excessive descriptions of every single thing that was happening got to be too much at the beginning. Fortunately, that problem disappeared, and the writing started to flow more naturally.

I enjoyed watching Scott and Hank get to know each other better, and I really connected with the characters at this point. Hank was a lonely, unhappy person who was spiraling downward in his actions. Scott wasn’t thrilled with how everything was working in his own life, but he was working toward a solution that became solidified when he met Hank. Unfortunately, once they finally decided to move forward with the relationship, the story dissolved into an almost non-stop sex scene. The ending felt a little abrupt, and I wish a few sex scenes would have been swapped out to add detail to the ending.

I did like learning a little bit about logging, and I thought Scott’s brother, Brian, added nicely to the story as Hank’s boss. In the end, I enjoyed the romance between the two and liked seeing them get their happy ending.

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Originally reviewed for Swept Away By Romance. Complimentary copy provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review.
Book Blurb

A Highlander in L.A. by J.P. Bowie (2 Stars)

May12

Duncan MacGregor is living in 18th century Scotland and about to marry against his wishes to help bring peace to his clan. His dearest friend and witch, Fiona, decides that he needs to be with his soul mate, Darren Holden, a 21st century cop. Darren must decide if he believes Duncan’s story about coming from the past while the two of them fall in love.

The first portion of the story was actually told in part by Fiona to explain why she sent Duncan to the future. There was quite a bit of description of the clan issues during the beginning of the book, allowing us to get to know Duncan pretty well. Duncan and Darren were both dreaming of each other for a period of time before meeting so they felt as if they already knew each other.

Once Duncan is in L.A., he and Darren begin a quick romance which basically resulted in a lot of sex to the point it overwhelmed the story. They did other things together, but those activities were mostly mentioned in passing except for a fun trip to the mall. We really never got to know Darren very well which made it difficult to develop an emotional connection to their relationship. There was a bit of inconsistency with Duncan’s speech patterns which became confusing.

The ending was very abrupt in two ways. First, it ended at the 90% mark on the Kindle. Second, the epilogue was told from Fiona’s POV leaving the reader to question how Duncan ended up fitting into our world. While the overall plot was an interesting and sweet concept, the execution didn’t work out quite as well.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb